


Healing From the Ruins

by Whats__her__name



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Nightmares, One Shot, Post-Ruins Of The Empire, talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:33:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25207765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whats__her__name/pseuds/Whats__her__name
Summary: It's been a week since Team Avatar returned from Gaolin. Korra wants to put Asami's brainwashing behind them, but when Asami's memory returns in the form of a nightmare, it's clear they have a lot to talk about.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 8
Kudos: 211





	Healing From the Ruins

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you're all staying safe during these crazy times. I recently rewatched LOK for the first time and am so into the Korrasami ship. This is my first Korrasami fic, so I hope I do right by the characters and fandom! 🙏🙏🙏
> 
> I hope it keeps you #satosfied in #korrantine (I'm sorry, I had to)

_The earth rumbled as the legendary Beifong family fended off Commander Guan’s troops. Rocks, dust, and flames swirled around Asami as Guan’s forces advanced. Panicked cries and angry orders from both sides blended together indistinctly in the background. Asami had one goal and one goal only._

_Capture the Avatar._

_As soon as she saw an opening, she charged full speed towards the bender. Asami threw a right hook_ — _trying to electrocute her_ — _but the Avatar dodged at the last second, sending the engineer tumbling towards the ground._

_“Asami, no!” She cried._

_Before Asami could regain her balance, three earthen slabs jutted out of the ground, encasing her legs and gloved hand._

_“I hope you’ll forgive me for this,” the bender sighed._

_“Let me go!” Asami demanded._

_“Now for Mako and Bolin,” the Avatar muttered before rushing to her allies’ aid._

_Asami was livid._

_“When I get out of here, I’ll make you pay for this! I will bring you to Commander Guan!” Asami roared._

_However, the Avatar was out of earshot and preoccupied dispersing the mechasuits’ flamethrower attacks._

_Asami’s heart pounded against her chest; her breathing became ragged; her vision became clouded. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as the reality of her failure dawned upon her._ I’m sorry, Commander Guan, _she thought solemnly. She felt anger rise inside her like a raging wildfire destroying everything in its path._

 _“I HATE YOU, AVATAR_ — _”_

“Korra!” Asami shrieked as she sat up in bed. 

“What! Are we under attack?” Korra shouted, jerked awake by Asami’s cry.

Korra instinctively kicked off the covers with an air blast. She ignited a small flame in her left hand, illuminating the dark room as dawn was yet upon them. After scanning the bedroom and finding no infiltrator in sight, Korra extinguished the flame and sighed. 

“Are you okay, Asami?” 

Asami felt a cold sweat form on her forehead. Although she was no longer hyperventilating, she could still hear her heart racing. She looked down at her body. She was dressed in her lavender satin nightgown—not an Earth Empire uniform. Korra was sitting up beside her in bed, wearing a tank top and slacks. _Why did that dream feel so real?_ Asami wondered. 

As Asami began to process her unsettling visions, she felt a warm hand rest on her cheek and guide her to meet Korra’s gaze. Asami nearly melted upon seeing those beautiful sapphire eyes etched with concern. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Korra pleaded.

“I just had a really, _really_ realistic dream, or, nightmare. Commander Guan’s forces were fighting you and the Beifongs. Mako, Bolin, and I were wearing Earth Empire uniforms and trying to capture you to bring to Guan,” Asami explained.

Korra’s eyes went wide, and she looked away in guilt. Her reaction confirmed Asami’s suspicion. They returned from Gaolin a week ago, and per Korra’s suggestion, Asami hadn’t inquired what she did while under Guan’s influence. However, her nightmare was proof that the incident couldn’t simply be swept under the rug. This time, Asami was determined to get answers.

“Korra, I _need_ to know. Did that really happen?” 

Korra sighed, her eyes cast down.

“Yeah,” Korra said softly, “I guess your memory’s coming back.”

Asami frowned at Korra’s response or lack thereof. Her normally brazen and direct girlfriend was unusually silent, simultaneously irritating and perturbing her. Asami shifted closer to the Avatar, who hesitantly met her eyes.

“Korra, please tell me everything that happened. If I’m going to continue to have these nightmares or flashbacks, I deserve to at least be prepared for them.”

Upon seeing the conviction in her girlfriend’s eyes, Korra reluctantly complied.

“You’re right. You deserve the truth.”

Over the next hour, Korra told her everything. How she and Opal tried and failed to talk sense into the brainwashed members of Team Avatar. How Kuvira had to put her in a headlock and wrestle her onto the airship. How Asami rejected any attempts from Korra to console her. And worst, the dozens of times that Asami had called Korra the “enemy” while locked up in the platinum cell. By the time Korra finished recounting the engineer’s transgressions, Asami was in a state of utter shock.

“I swear, that’s all I know. Kuvira might know more details about what happened when you four were captured, but I doubt—”

“How could you keep this from me!” 

Korra jumped back a little, clearly started by Asami’s sudden outburst.

Asami felt her eyes sting.

“You don’t have to protect me from these things because you’re the Avatar! I’m not a helpless little girl. I’ve watched both of my parents die right in front of me. In case you forgot, I was there when the Equalists overran my home and when Vaatu almost consumed the world in eternal darkness, so I can handle the truth about Guan, okay!”

Asami couldn’t hold back anymore, and tears began streaming down her cheeks. 

A look of hurt swept across Korra’s face, and Asami instantly regretted her choice of words. Korra always wore her emotions on her sleeve. It was a trait that Asami usually admired, but in that moment, it worsened the pain she was already in. _Good job, Sato, you just blew up at the person who loves you most in the world,_ Asami admonished herself. However, just as she was about to apologize, Korra suddenly pulled her into a hug. 

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Korra whispered, “I was wrong to keep it from you.”

Asami felt a pang in her chest upon hearing Korra’s heartfelt apology. Asami immediately returned her embrace, finding comfort in the familiar warmth of her girlfriend. From the tension in Korra’s shoulders, Asami could tell she wasn’t finished.

“Listen, the reason I didn’t want to tell you wasn’t because I thought you were weak or couldn’t handle the truth. It’s just that you have such a big heart, and I didn’t want to see you beat yourself up over something that wasn’t your fault.”

Asami said nothing for the next minute or two, only sobbing softly into her girlfriend’s shoulder. All the while, Korra simply stroked her back up and down, giving her all the time she needed to unleash her emotions. Asami felt immensely grateful to have, in her eyes, the world’s most understanding girlfriend. No matter how much her tears soaked Korra’s shirt or how irrationally angry she might have been, Korra would never think less of her.

“I’m sorry for getting upset just now. Honestly, I’m not even mad at you. I’m mad at myself,” Asami explained.

Korra leaned out of the hug and eyed her girlfriend curiously. 

“The truth is...ever since my father was killed, I’ve been so scared of losing someone else I love and not being able to prevent it. When the mechasuit arm came down, all I could do was watch him get crushed. I never want to feel that helpless or powerless again.”

Asami’s heart was racing. She had never been so open about her feelings for her father, not even to Mako after Hiroshi was first exposed as an Equalist. 

“I can’t imagine how painful that must’ve been. You’re so strong. If you ever want to talk, I’m here,” Korra whispered as she leaned her forehead against that of Asami’s. 

Asami’s lips curved into a small, albeit brief, smile. It would’ve been easy for the Avatar, who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, to brush off Asami’s hardships. What was the loss of one (redeemed) criminal to thousands of past lives? Despite this, Korra never trivialized Asami’s loss and instead empathized to the best of her ability.

“I’m terrified of what could’ve happened that day if you hadn’t captured me first. What if I had electrocuted you? Would Guan have captured and brainwashed you too? Or would he have done w-worse. I can’t imagine losing you like that, and I’d never be able to forgive myself if it was at _my_ hands. If only I had been strong enough to break free of that stupid, diabolical machine, but I wasn’t. I put your _life_ , the Beifongs, and the rest of the Earth Kingdom at risk.”

Asami was trembling by the end. She could barely see Korra through the waterfalls cascading from her eyes. She could barely finish a sentence without coughing uncontrollably. After airing out her fears, she was far from the composed, level-headed girl most people believed her to be. 

Korra, on the other hand, was far from most people. 

Korra was one of the few people who Asami could be vulnerable around. With Korra, she could drop the facade of the stern CEO or elegant socialite. Korra made her feel safe even when she was at her deepest points. In the years she had known the Avatar, Korra had grown from a hotheaded, insensitive teenager to a compassionate, empathetic young woman, one that Asami now couldn’t imagine her life without.

“Have you gotten that all out of your system?” Korra asked as she wiped Asami’s tears with her thumb. 

“Huh? I mean, yes.”

“Good, so you don’t have to tell me that again.”

Korra’s hands moved from her cheek to her shoulders, gripping them lightly. She stared at Asami intently, and Asami realized Korra wanted her to pay close attention to her next words.

“I know I was wrong before, but trust me on this. Do _not_ play the ‘what if’ game. Do not get into that circular thinking. I did that for three years, and it was torture. Look, it’s normal to be shaken by something like this, but you’ll get through this. Telling me about your feelings is the first step. Right now, the best thing you can do for yourself is...to accept what happened to you instead of fearing what might’ve been.”

Asami stared at her girlfriend in shock. _Accept what happened to you instead of fearing what might’ve been_. Asami replayed those words in her head. It was such a simple yet powerful insight. Suddenly, Asami felt lighter, as if an invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders. That one sentence illuminated a path out of the dark place Asami had been trapped in, and Asami was more than ready to walk out of it. 

Asami let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in.

“Is everything okay?” Her girlfriend asked worriedly.

“It is now,” Asami smiled, “You really are becoming a wise Avatar.”

“Becoming? As if I wasn’t already?” Korra replied sarcastically.

The two women burst into a fit of laughter, their voices filling the room. Asami wiped the remaining tears from her face. She stared lovingly at the smile plastered on Korra’s face. After a few moments, however, Korra’s eyes widened in realization.

“Oh, one last thing, you were wrong about the machine.”

“What do you mean?”

“While Kuvira and Bataar Jr. were recreating the machine in Zaofu, I was in charge of guarding you. Su and the others wanted to keep you in the platinum cell, but by the time we landed, you’d calmed down and weren’t fighting anymore. I can’t explain it, but somehow I knew you weren’t a threat, so I convinced them to lock you inside a room with me watching instead. The thing is, Kuvira and Bataar Jr. worked for _hours_ , and I, uh, may have dozed off for a little bit.”

“You what? Korra, that’s not how you guard people! What if I had tried to attack you while you were asleep?”

“But that’s just it. You _didn’t_ try to attack me. I was completely vulnerable, but the entire time, you just sat there staring at me. It felt like you were trying really hard to hold yourself back, and you did.”

Asami gasped as the truth hit her.

“So I was able to resist the brainwashing to some extent...You’re not making this up, are you?”

Korra pecked her on the lips.

“I’m not, Avatar’s promise,” Korra reassured her as she raised her left hand.

“Thanks, Korra. You always know how to make me feel better.”

“Well, you were there for me when I hit rock bottom. It’s the least I can do for you.”

Asami smiled. As painful as the memory of the three years without her best friend was, it also touched her to know how grateful Korra was for her support. 

“We’ll get through this, _together_ ,” Asami added.

After laying the subject to rest, the couple found they were unable to fall back asleep. Instead, they lay in each other’s arms, discussing everything from Asami’s decision to cease the commercial production of mechatanks to Tenzin walking in on Kai and Jinora’s making out in the Gazebo. Asami cherished these rare moments of peace with her girlfriend, when they could curl up in each other’s arms, talk aimlessly, and drown out the calls of duty. 

However, Asami wouldn’t be satisfied with just that tonight. 

They both needed to release pent-up tension. Although Asami didn’t want to admit it, she needed to feel in control, even if for just a bit. The Avatar may have been the most powerful being in the world, but Asami was the only one who could make her weak at the knees, a fact that Asami bashfully took pride in.

“If you’re in the mood, why don’t we do a _fun_ activity?” 

“Hm, I did find a new ball for Naga, but she’s not an early riser.” 

Asami rolled her eyes. Realizing her girlfriend needed a more direct hint, Asami moved to straddle Korra’s hips and leaned down to her ear.

“I mean the _other_ kind of fun,” Asami whispered in a low, sultry voice.

Asami could’ve sworn she saw her girlfriend’s hairs stick up as her breath tickled Korra’s skin. Leaning back up, she saw Korra mouth an “oh” before smirking. She felt Korra’s hands slowly slide up her thighs, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

“Well, I am in need of a morning workout,” Korra replied.

Asami couldn’t contain her giggle as she buried herself in the crook of Korra’s neck, breathing in her earthy scent. _Maybe tonight’s not so bad after all,_ Asami thought as she began planting kisses on Korra’s skin.

* * *

Korra never rated herself as being good with words. Sure, she’d become more eloquent over the years thanks to her experience with countless, and at times unwanted, press conferences. Still, verbally expressing complicated thoughts and emotions _drained_ her, so she preferred to let her actions speak louder than her words. 

As Asami rested her head on Korra’s bare chest, her eyes struggling to stay open as she lay atop her girlfriend in post-coital bliss, Korra tried to convey everything she felt through their physical intimacy. Korra hugged Asami tightly against her body, like she did every night, both as an apology for her three-year absence and reassurance that she would never disappear again. Korra gently stroked Asami’s silky raven locks, hoping that the gesture would calm her after a fitful night. Lastly, Korra pressed her lips against Asami’s forehead, trying to convey the depth of her love. Korra could never replace the hole in Asami’s heart where her parents had been, but Korra hoped she could make it just a little less empty. Maybe, just maybe, she, along with the rest of their friends, could be Asami’s new family.

“You’re thinking louder than you know,” Asami murmured, “What’s on your mind?”

“Just how lucky I am to be with you,” Korra replied. 

“Mmm,” Asami mumbled.

Korra was half-surprised the engineer didn’t pry further. Then again, she was thoroughly exhausted from both her lack of sleep and the intense “session” they just had.

“Let’s try to get a little rest,” Korra yawned as she eyed the rays of sunlight peeking through their curtains.

Unfortunately, the universe decided it was time for the next crisis.

The telephone rang, dashing any hopes the two would return to a peaceful slumber. _Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me!_ Korra thought. Asami begrudgingly moved to answer the phone, and Korra shivered at the sudden loss of contact. 

“What’re the chances we can ignore that?” Korra groaned as she buried her face into the pillow.

“You’re the Avatar, and I’m the CEO of Future Industries. I doubt we get any unimportant calls at 6AM,” Asami quipped.

Korra closed her eyes, trying to enjoy the warmth of the soft bed for just a few more minutes before daily duties called on her. From underneath her pillow, she could hear Asami’s muffled complaints.

“What! He’s trying to back out _hours_ before signing the deal?” Asami exclaimed.

 _Still better than a ransom or half the morning emergency calls I get,_ Korra thought. 

“Ugh, they’re probably trying to cut costs with Cabbage Corp instead. Please call them back and tell them we can renegotiate the terms at the meeting today. Thanks.” Asami requested, exasperation evident in her voice.

Korra peaked her head out from underneath the pillow. Asami had her eyes closed and was massaging her temples. Sensing Asami’s irritation, Korra placed her hand over that of Asami’s, stroking circles with her thumb. 

“First dip in the trucking industry not going so well?” Korra asked.

“Well, I thought it’d be easier to snag market share now that Varrick Industries is out of the picture, but looks like we might lose our first big contract,” Asami sighed.

Korra shuffled out from under the covers. The cool morning air sent chills up her exposed skin, and she hugged Asami from the side, both to comfort the frustrated CEO and to warm herself up. Asami leaned into her touch, resting her head on Korra’s shoulder.

“You’ll figure something out, and if the guy needs some convincing, I’m sure a little Avatar intimidation could go a long way,” Korra mischievously suggested.

A smile returned to Asami’s face, easing the Avatar’s nerves.

“Only if you want to dig yourself into a deeper hole with the press,” Asami replied jokingly.

“Fine, I won't get involved,” Korra pouted.

Asami chuckled at her feigned disappointment.

“But,” Asami began as her emerald eyes met Korra’s gaze, “You’re welcome to walk me to work today, if you’d like.”

Korra couldn’t contain her excitement. She always looked forward to even the most mundane moments with her girlfriend. 

“You bet,” Korra beamed, which earned her a chaste kiss from Asami, who was now grinning from ear to ear.

“Great, let’s get ready then. Why don’t you get a shower going while I grab some fresh towels?” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Korra replied, sliding off the bed.

She headed towards the bathroom the two shared in their master bedroom, but right before closing the door, she heard Asami call out to her.

“Oh, and Korra.”

“Yeah?” 

Despite the distance, Korra noticed a faint blush color Asami’s cheeks.

“Thanks...for everything this morning.”

The sincerity tugged at Korra’s heartstrings, and she had to resist shedding her own tears of happiness. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to make Asami smile. Korra was in it for the long haul, every battle, every scar, and every nightmare. There was no challenge they couldn’t overcome together and nobody she would rather have at her side in the bumpy ride that was life. 

“I love you too, Asami.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to critique my writing. After all, that's the only way I can improve :^)
> 
> Rewatching LOK really made me understand and appreciate their relationship more. They're perfect for each other, and I can't believe either one of them dated Mako (no offense to him lol). I'm really glad the creators made them endgame and further developed their relationship in the comics, which I definitely recommend reading (warning: Turf Wars art is crap lol). I may write some more Korrasami one-shots, especially depicting off-screen moments in S1-3, so let me know if you'd be interested in that!


End file.
